The syllabus says:
Examine the changes in a transport, internet or telecommunications network in terms of the extension of links and nodes and the intensity of use at a national or global scale.
Describe the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in civil society and the transmission and flow of images, ideas, information and finance.
Examine the contrasting rates, levels and patterns of adoption of an element of ICT in two countries.
Examine the changes in a transport, internet or telecommunications network in terms of the extension of links and nodes and the intensity of use at a national or global scale.
Describe the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in civil society and the transmission and flow of images, ideas, information and finance.
Examine the contrasting rates, levels and patterns of adoption of an element of ICT in two countries.
Extension and density of networks
So, what were the factors that made the world smaller?
The global growth of submarine information cables
Source: http://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/
the extension of a network: mobile phones in africa
Why has this massive increase occurred?
Look at the upper graph on the right. It shows the mobile phone subscriptions. - What might be wrong with the graph? (How can it be challenged?) - Describe the graph. - Use the Google Public Data Explorer. Look up the 'mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people' and then search for Kenya, your adopted country, and three other countries at different stages of development. Describe the graph. Read the Guardian article here, and note down the ways in which the continent expanded its mobile phone coverage. Why do you think Africa didn't grow a similar sized land-based telephone network? Extra: Read this BBC article. What is the key message? Going further
These websites contain lots of useful information: http://blogs.worldbank.org/ic4d/ http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/ict |
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The mobile phone revolution
Mobile phone access reaches three quarters of world population
New World Bank report charts development opportunities in the mobile era
http://www.infodev.org/en/Article.873.html
17 July 2012
With over 6 billion mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, up from fewer than 1 billion in 2000, three out of every four human beings worldwide now have access to a mobile phone, says a flagship report on global mobile trends released today by infoDev and the World Bank.
According to Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing Mobile, more than 30 billion mobile applications, or “apps,” were downloaded in 2011 – software that extends the capabilities of phones, for instance to become mobile wallets, navigational aids, or price comparison tools. In developing countries, citizens are increasingly using mobile phones to create new livelihoods and enhance their lifestyles, while governments are using them to improve service delivery and citizen feedback mechanisms.
This new report, the third in the World Bank’s series on Information and Communications for Development (IC4D), explores the consequences for development of the emerging “app economy”, especially in evolving approaches to entrepreneurship and employment. It also examines the vast transformative impact of mobile technology in sectors such as agriculture, health, financial services, and government.
Download the IC4D 2012 infographic
Countries around the world are taking advantage of this potential, for example:
Number of mobile phones to exceed world population by 2014
By Joshua Pramis — February 28, 2013
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mobile-phone-world-population-2014/
It seems as though we can’t go anywhere without seeing a sea of people using cell phones. We’re plugged in at all times. It’s so normal that it can be hard for us to really comprehend that there are still plenty of places in the world devoid of cell phones. But the global mobile outreach is spreading like wildfire. In fact, it’s spreading so much that, as Silicon India recently reported, the number of active cell phones will reach 7.3 billion by 2014.
In other words, there will be more in-use cell phones than there are people on the planet right now. This news comes from an announcement made by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone on the planet will have one, or even that cell service will exist everywhere. It can be largely attributed to the increasing number of users that own multiple devices, which will continue to grow as more and more people are given secondary phones to be used for work purposes (the main reason most people would need more than one device).
There are more than a hundred countries throughout the world where the number of cell phones exceeds the countries’ populations. Russia, for example, has 1.8 times more active cell phone accounts than people. Brazil has 1.2 times as many.
Most of the active devices exist in Asia, particularly China, which is considered by ITU to be the main market for smartphones and cell phone growth. Currently, there are roughly 6 billion active cell phones in the world, so this leap is huge. Of the 6 billion cell phones in use, only around 1.1 billion of them are mobile-broadband devices.
Mobile phone access reaches three quarters of world population
New World Bank report charts development opportunities in the mobile era
http://www.infodev.org/en/Article.873.html
17 July 2012
With over 6 billion mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, up from fewer than 1 billion in 2000, three out of every four human beings worldwide now have access to a mobile phone, says a flagship report on global mobile trends released today by infoDev and the World Bank.
According to Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing Mobile, more than 30 billion mobile applications, or “apps,” were downloaded in 2011 – software that extends the capabilities of phones, for instance to become mobile wallets, navigational aids, or price comparison tools. In developing countries, citizens are increasingly using mobile phones to create new livelihoods and enhance their lifestyles, while governments are using them to improve service delivery and citizen feedback mechanisms.
This new report, the third in the World Bank’s series on Information and Communications for Development (IC4D), explores the consequences for development of the emerging “app economy”, especially in evolving approaches to entrepreneurship and employment. It also examines the vast transformative impact of mobile technology in sectors such as agriculture, health, financial services, and government.
Download the IC4D 2012 infographic
Countries around the world are taking advantage of this potential, for example:
- In India, the state of Kerala’s mGovernment program has deployed over 20 applications and facilitated more than 3 million interactions between the government and citizens since its launch in December 2010.
- Kenya has emerged as a leading player in mobile for development, largely due to the success of the M-PESA mobile payment ecosystem. Nairobi-based AkiraChix, for example, provides networking and training for women technologists.
- In Palestine, Souktel’s JobMatch service is helping young people find jobs. College graduates using the service reported a reduction in the time spent looking for employment from an average of twelve weeks to one week or less, and an increase in wages of up to 50 percent.
Number of mobile phones to exceed world population by 2014
By Joshua Pramis — February 28, 2013
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mobile-phone-world-population-2014/
It seems as though we can’t go anywhere without seeing a sea of people using cell phones. We’re plugged in at all times. It’s so normal that it can be hard for us to really comprehend that there are still plenty of places in the world devoid of cell phones. But the global mobile outreach is spreading like wildfire. In fact, it’s spreading so much that, as Silicon India recently reported, the number of active cell phones will reach 7.3 billion by 2014.
In other words, there will be more in-use cell phones than there are people on the planet right now. This news comes from an announcement made by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone on the planet will have one, or even that cell service will exist everywhere. It can be largely attributed to the increasing number of users that own multiple devices, which will continue to grow as more and more people are given secondary phones to be used for work purposes (the main reason most people would need more than one device).
There are more than a hundred countries throughout the world where the number of cell phones exceeds the countries’ populations. Russia, for example, has 1.8 times more active cell phone accounts than people. Brazil has 1.2 times as many.
Most of the active devices exist in Asia, particularly China, which is considered by ITU to be the main market for smartphones and cell phone growth. Currently, there are roughly 6 billion active cell phones in the world, so this leap is huge. Of the 6 billion cell phones in use, only around 1.1 billion of them are mobile-broadband devices.